dco-ai-attribution

DCO compliance and AI attribution guidelines for commits that include AI-assisted code. Enforces the Linux kernel coding-assistants policy: AI must never add Signed-off-by; humans certify the DCO; Assisted-by trailer documents AI tool usage. Apply whenever a user is committing AI-assisted code in any project.

DCO and AI Attribution for AI-Assisted Commits

These rules are derived from the Linux kernel's official AI Coding Assistants policy. They apply to all projects where the DCO governs contributions.

Core rule: AI must never add Signed-off-by

Signed-off-by is a human-only legal certification of the DCO. An AI agent must not generate, suggest, or insert a Signed-off-by line on behalf of itself.

The human submitter is always responsible for:

  1. Reviewing all AI-generated code before committing
  2. Ensuring the contribution is license-compatible with the target project
  3. Adding their own Signed-off-by to certify the DCO
  4. Taking full legal and ethical responsibility for the contribution

Attribution: Assisted-by trailer

Format: Assisted-by: AGENT_NAME:MODEL_VERSION [TOOL1] [TOOL2]

Examples: Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-4-6 Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-4-6 clang-tidy Assisted-by: Claude:claude-3-opus coccinelle sparse

Complete commit message example

fix(auth): validate JWT expiry before returning user context

The expiry check was skipped when the token lacked an explicit 'exp' claim, allowing stale tokens to authenticate.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-4-6 Signed-off-by: Sri Aradhyula [email protected]

Pre-commit checklist

  • I have read and understood every line of AI-generated code
  • I can explain what the code does and why it is correct
  • The code is license-compatible with the target project
  • I have added my own Signed-off-by trailer
  • I have added an Assisted-by trailer (AI tool + model version)
  • No AI-generated Signed-off-by line is present

How this skill was developed

Written with Claude Code (claude-sonnet-4-6). Policy content derived from the Linux kernel's coding-assistants.rst, authored by the kernel community (GPL-2.0).

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-sonnet-4-6